


Breathe

by tveckling



Category: Dishonored (Video Games)
Genre: Bad Ending, Blood, Humansider, M/M, Post-DotO
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-05
Updated: 2018-03-05
Packaged: 2019-03-27 12:13:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,231
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13880643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tveckling/pseuds/tveckling
Summary: Emily had told him about Meagan Foster, so when the letter from her arrived he didn’t open it.





	Breathe

Emily had told him about Meagan Foster, the woman who had helped her in her battles against Delilah, so when the letter from her arrived he didn’t open and read it as he normally did to all correspondence from untrusted sources. But Emily did trust this woman, so with only a moment’s hesitation he took it to her. He hadn’t made it more than halfway through the hallway outside her study before the doors slammed open and she rushed after him, letter clutched in her hand. It had been hard deciphering her face, whether she was excited or anxious.

And after he had read the letter himself Corvo had grown used to the feeling, spending all his time moving from one feeling to the next. The letter had said she would arrive in a month’s time, she and her companion, and as the days drew closer Corvo began having trouble focusing, finding little sleep when he lied down. All his thoughts were circling the impending arrival and what it would be like meeting him again. The thought made a phantom heat flash through his unmarked hand.

The Outsider had come to him in his sleep after Delilah, explaining the situation and for once being willing to stay and answer Corvo’s questions. They talked for such a long time, there in the Void, about Emily, about the Void, about Delilah and her plans. They had both avoided the question for a long time, but when the Outsider eventually offered to give Corvo back his mark it came as no surprise. And for a long, impossibly long, moment Corvo was tempted. He had grown used to relying on the Outsider’s gift over the years, and finding himself lacking it was unnerving. It was precisely that that made him decline. For too long he had relied on magic, enough that it almost crippled him when he lost it, and he knew now that it could happen again. He had to grow stronger by his own merits, grow used to strengths that couldn’t be taken from him with a twist of a hand and a cruel smile. He couldn’t fail Emily again.

If he had allowed himself to wonder Corvo would have thought that the end of the Outsider’s visits. He had offered Corvo the mark again and had been rejected. With Emily carrying the mark there shouldn’t have been anything keeping the Outsider’s interest in Corvo. And yet, yet, his dreams kept being visited, far more often than before. Sometimes it was idle chatter, sometimes it was a place where Corvo learned to air all his worries and headaches and receive cool-eyed advice, and sometimes it was simply peaceful silence. Companionship. Closeness that Corvo hadn’t expected, never thought he would feel with anyone again after Jessamine.

Then there was the last visit, where the Outsider had sat in silent contemplation before telling Corvo it would be the last time they saw each other in his dreams. Perhaps they would meet again, perhaps not. For once he couldn’t predict what would happen.

And that had been that. He had disappeared immediately after, letting Corvo wake up in his bed, worried and angry and alone. Cursing the Outsider with all his breath as he got dressed and rushed off to the shrine he had erected in his and Jessamine’s secret room. But no matter how much he raged, how much he pleaded, he didn’t receive an answer. Not even Emily got a reaction from the god, once Corvo had explained it all to her. It was a mix of frustration and helplessness that Corvo hadn’t felt since his days in Coldridge, and remembering that was less than a welcome memory.

The worry had become a part of his life after that, for the next couple months. Until the letter. Until Billie Lurk, as she was actually called, had said she would bring them a certain formerly black-eyes bastard. There hadn’t actually been much else in the letter, only a promise that she would explain everything when they met.

It was just his luck that they had arrived when he was in a meeting with an informant. The servant Emily sent had been clearly instructed to knock on his door anyway, thankfully, and Corvo could quickly end the meeting and rush off, heart stuck in his throat. He didn’t know what he would see, but the thought of finally meeting the Outsider again made him wish for his old powers so he could move faster.

For once he didn’t bother knocking before opening the door to Emily’s study, and already before he stepped into the room he was searching for the shape he had grown familiar with. His eyes slid past Emily and a woman he assumed was the famed Billie Lurk, Emily’s excited chatter dying as she turned to him, and stopped at the third figure in the room. Tall and thin, dressed in clothes that wouldn’t stand out in the modern world. Still pale, especially with his black hair, but there was life in him like Corvo hadn’t seen before.

And his eyes.

No more was the inky darkness Corvo had grown used to. In the light from the window he stood in front they looked green, and as he smiled, softly, carefully, as though he wasn’t used to the expression, Corvo decided it was the most beautiful color he had seen.

“Hello, Corvo,” said that familiar voice, from those familiar lips.

Throwing all caution and hesitation to the side Corvo walked across the room to pull the Outsider into a tight hug, something he never would have imagined doing. It got even more surreal as he felt arms wrap around him too. He felt tension leave the Outsider as he leaned his forehead against Corvo’s shoulder.

“Guess I can’t feel special any longer. I’ve never gotten a hug like that.”

“You have never initiated a hug like this, Billie,” the Outsider said, his voice slightly muffled. Taking a deep breath he raised his head and took a step back, forcing Corvo to also let go or look foolish. In truth it was a hard decision, but the smile, full of tenderness, that the Outsider gave him made up for the distance. They still stood close enough that Corvo could more clearly see the brown mixed with the green in the Outsider’s eyes.

“Yeah, like that’s the reason.” The woman, Billie, snorted over her crossed arms—Emily hadn’t said anything about her arm looking like a piece of the Void—but her tone was fond and her smirk was decidedly amused.

“I never really realized it, but seeing it now… it’s so clear,” Emily said with a wide smile that Corvo knew meant he was going to get a headache. “I never took you for the pining type, father, but everything makes so much more sense now. Not just from you, but from him too.”

A slight shift in posture made Corvo glance at the Outsider and—he had no idea the Outsider was even capable of blushing.

“I am finding myself regretting giving you my mark, dear Emily,” the Outsider said, the bite in his tone sounding too much like a cover for embarrassment, along with his red ears and scowl, to be genuine. Corvo couldn’t fault Emily for laughing, not when he found himself smiling. When the Outsider glanced at him he quickly dropped the expression.

At least she was focusing more on tormenting the Outsider rather than him, Corvo thought with more than a little relief.

“You adore me, you just don’t want to admit it.” Emily dramatically sighed and waved a hand. “But I understand how it is. When you finally meet the one you’ve been waiting and pining for there isn’t anyone else that matters any longer. Isn’t that right, Billie?”

Billie chuckled and shrugged. “He has been getting more and more excited the closer we got.”

“Please, don’t join her.” The Outsider rubbed his face and glared at the two women.

There was a warmth in his chest as he watched the three squabble that Corvo couldn’t remember feeling for a long, long time. Contentment. Happiness.

“Fine, I’ll stop, I’ll stop,” Emily said, raising her hands. “On one condition. Give me a hug too!”

The Outsider sighed, shaking his head. It couldn’t quite cover the small smile he wore, though. “If it will make you move on to more important matters then, fine, I acquiesce to your request.”

Emily just laughed at him before walking over to him, arms held wide open. Corvo chuckled at the surprise on his face when Emily, instead of simply hugging him, picked him up and spun him around several times, grinning wildly. When she finally put him down he looked like he didn’t know whether to be laughing or scowling.

“You weigh so little,” Emily said with a snort before reaching for his hands. “I bet I could-“

Her voice was cut off with a gasp of pain, at the same time as the Outsider staggered back, and Corvo caught the bright flare of the mark on her hand. Seeing Billie rush over to Emily Corvo grabbed the Outsider’s shoulders, steadying him. He could feel tremors beneath his hands, scaring him even more.

“What’s- oh. No. No, no, it can’t-”

The Outsider drew a shaking breath and looked up at Corvo, and not until then did Corvo notice how his eyes had turned back into the black pools they had been in the Void.

“What happened? My mark-“ Emily shook her head, waving the now unmarked hand, before looking up and freezing.

“Corvo.” The Outsider looked pained, lifting a hand to press against Corvo’s cheek. “I didn’t think- it appears there’s a lot I couldn’t predict, though I should have known. The Void doesn’t like losing, Billie. Be aware. And Corvo, I’m so-”

With a gasp the Outsider’s voice broke, and as the blackness faded from his eyes tears filled them, soon overflowing and running down his face. He stared at Corvo, unblinking, wide-eyed. He looked scared.

“I- I can’t breathe. I can’t-”

Beneath the shaky fingers the Outsider pressed to his neck Corvo could see something shifting. Gently, but with panicked hurry, he moved the hand, only to see the skin being opened in front of his eyes. Cut, as though with a knife. Deep, judging by the blood that quickly flowed out and covered the hand Corvo had pressed there in desperation.

“Lower him to the ground, quickly!” He hadn’t noticed when Billie moved, but she was at the Outsider’s other side, wide-eyed and scared but with determination written all over her face. “Emily, call for a doctor. Quick! Corvo, we need to stop the bleeding. Corvo!”

The slap came as a shock to his mind, a much needed one, and Corvo could found himself finally able to think again. With a curse he ripped off one of his shirt arms and pressed the fabric against the Outsider’s neck, trying not to think of the last time he had a loved one bleeding in his arms. Behind him Emily was yelling into the hall, next to him Billie was muttering to herself as she tried to do—something—but all he could focus on was the Outsider’s wide eyes, staring right into his.

“You’ll be okay,” Corvo found himself saying, his voice thick and almost unrecognizable. “You’ll be fine, and we’ll continue our conversations again. You left me hanging, remember?”

The Outsider made a noise, as though trying to say something, but it only made the blood flow faster. His hand was squeezing Corvo’s, hard enough that Corvo could pretend he didn’t feel the shaking. There was blood all over the Outsider, the floor, and Billie, though it wasn’t as visible with her red clothes. Corvo was certain he was covered in it too but something stopped him from thinking too much about it.

“You’ll be fine. I’ll take you out wandering the city, just like you said you’d like. Just keep walking until our feet are sore and we can’t stand. Then we’ll sit down and you’ll tell me about the stars. You have such stories about them, you have to tell me. Just like you promised. I’ll take you to my favorite places, I’m sure you’ll like them too. You can tell me all their history and secrets. You-“

“Corvo.” Billie’s hand was light on his arm, but Corvo flinched like she had punched him. “He’s-”

“No.”

“He’s gone.”

“No.”

“He’s dead. Corvo, listen to me.”

Corvo shook his head, keeping his eyes on the Outsider’s. He kept on squeezing his hand and pretended he could still feel the Outsider squeeze back.

Billie’s voice was also strange, uneven and wet somehow. “Listen, I know. I know, he’s- I loved the bastard, damn it, why did this happen? Damn it! First Daud and now- damn it!”

Someone was shaking his shoulders, and dimly he could hear Emily’s voice, but he refused to let go of the Outsider. He kept staring at the Outsider’s eyes, shaking his head and mumbling denial. Not until black, shaky hand reached out to gently close the Outsider’s eyes, did Corvo allow Emily to separate his and the Outsider’s hands. Then she held him, hugged him to her chest as they both cried, shielding him from having to watch as the Outsider’s body was taken away.


End file.
